Summer Solstice
by KyoSohmaLuver
Summary: This is a whole story on one of the OCs I put in two of my stories: the one and only Solstice. My friends favorite character was Solstice, so . . . Chap 1: LONG ASS PROLOUGE
1. Chapter 1

**Solstice has been in a two of my Kingdom Hearts (and many more to come) stories, so I thought I'd write a story about him. His roles switch in the stories from a happy-hyper brother, to a crazy and psychotic stalker. But here, he's just...Solstice. **

**Summer Solstice. **

* * *

**  
**

Bwa ha ha. No one can catch me now! Well, they could if they tried, but they wouldn't be able to arrest me! I didn't do anything, ha! Okay, I'm really stupid right now, So I'll cut to the chase.

Desert.

Desert.

Not dessert, the good an yummy stuff after meals.

No, DESERT.

Lots and lots of desert. I was deserted in the desert. No pun intended.

I stumbled forward and the small bag on my shoulder almost fell. I tried to brush the silver hair out of my face, but...yeah, that wasn't happening. At least the back was up in a pony tail. I looked down at my watch. 7:40. Shouldn't that lazy ass excuse of a brother of mine be here by now? Everyone, and when I say Everyone, I mean EVERYONE, thought that I didn't look a thing like my brother Sephiroth. I took pride in that. When his face was long, pale, chiseled, and handsome, my features were a bit different. My cheeks still had a little bit of baby fat on them, and my face wasn't as long as a horse like that stupid Seph, my eyes, proudly, are a light baby blue with a hint of green, and their more perky and happy then my hard ass brother. I take pride in my tan as well. I look good with it, or so one or two people say. The others hate it.

"Damn you, Sephiroth!" I growled, stomping on the ground. My Black tank top started to blow in the wind, my brown cargo pants going as well. I could feel the air by my bare feet, and I looked up at the cloudless sky, squinting. I stared for a moment, wondering what Sephy would think if I told him I had my sentimental moments too.

I sighed, literally hearing my brother laughing his ass off with my other brother, Ansem, laughing right next to you. Oh, I didn't mention? I have to have the worst family ever, but people love my family because every single person in it has silver or silver-ish hair. There was, of course, Sephiroth: the oldest: 25, Ansem: third oldest: 22, Saix: second oldest: 19, Riku: Saix's fraternal twin: 19, Setzer: also eldest: 25, then...me: youngest (damn that): 14. Everyone was in their twenties except for me!

Six boys in my family, no girls born to my mom. My mom, currently, had dropped me off in the middle of the desert because she'd rather spend time with her boyfriend than with me. I was the only one of my brothers that she was allowed to see, but she didn't want to see me. Don't feel bad, heck, I don't wanna see her either.

But I just wish she'd STOP dropping me off in random places! She could stop at a gas station, or maybe a super market, but not in the middle of a stupid HUGE desert! It would be a surprise if my brother even found me. And when he did find me, I'd be on the side of the road rotting because a wild coyote or wolf or something ate my intestines and left me to die. Oh, that's another thing, my brothers think I have too big of an imagination.

I heard a car start to slow, like it was stopping for me, but out of the corner of my eye I saw that it was a sleek black car. I'm not so good with car names, so I'm just going to say it was a compact car. But, none of my brothers liked black, and it would be a million years before I saw them driving a black car, so I knew it wasn't them.

"Hey, sexy, you wanna go for a ride?"

I was hoping to whatever god there was that they weren't talking to me. But they had to be, because I was the only one within ten miles in all directions. I ignored him, just like my brothers had always taught me too. Wait...does everything I say always end up to somehow being connected to my family? Weird.

"Cutie's got an attitude," they said again, and I knew it was the same man. God, I hate perverted pedophiles. Gives me shivers.

I walked faster, but I knew that never in hell could I outrun a car! I heard it speed up as well, the engine revving and the man laughing.

"Look at that silver hair," The man said, and I started to get scared when I heard him pull over behind me. Why did this always happen to me? I know, I'm stunningly attractive, but I don't want THIS kind of attention.

"What a stunning color," the man said, and he actually picked up a strand of it.

I winced, then heard a sort of 'crunch' sound, then I heard a muffled sound, then I actually turned around about then. Wow, was I relieved at that sight.

There was Sephiroth, punching the lights out of that guy. That was a sight to see, and he was yelling a mile a minute, cursing the man for ever touching his dear brother. Then, I saw that my other four brothers were going to help in their ways possible. Saix, was going to stand tall and pull Sephiroth back when he saw that the man had gotten his just punishment. Riku would cheer them on, glaring all the way at the man. Setzer would stay leaning on the car, staying and looking cool, but there just in case the man made a run for it. Ansem would just cross his arms, and if Saix would pull Sephiroth back too soon, he'd let Sephiroth at the man a little more. And if Sephiroth had punched so much his knuckles started to hurt, Ansem would do the punching. Then, as if they were all in a daze, when Saix would pull Sephiroth off of the severally injured man, they'd all run in a stampede toward me.

I also forgot to tell you, my brothers are very, very, very overprotective when it comes down to me. I don't get it either, it might be because I'm the youngest, I just don't know. They just all try and help me and protect me every chance they get.

"You okay?" Riku exclaimed, looking me over. Seph put his hand on my head and glared at me, but it's okay, it was just tough love. Saix hugged me and not say anything really, just checking me over like Riku did. Setzer stood back, cursing himself for not coming sooner.

I smiled and scratched behind my head, "I'm fine! I was just walking to where Seph told me to meet him. And don't worry, I totally ignored that guy, not provoking at all!"

Sephiroth checked me over again, then sighed, turning around and stalking back toward his truck. He had a deep blue pick up truck, and he'd usually drive, Riku would sit in front to fiddle with the radio stations, and all the others would sit in the back. I was used to this seating arrangement, and everyone else was too.

I hopped in the back, throwing my bag in the bed. I walked to the front of the bed, and sat. Hot damn I was tired. I yawned and felt the truck shake as the others got in, and soon after the truck started up. I yawned again, then felt Ansem sit next to me. I leaned my head on his shoulder and yawned, closing my eyes, "I'm tired,"

"Don't whine and just sleep," Ansem growled, not really minding that I was sleeping on him. See what I mean? Overprotective. If I'm tired, they'll make me sleep, no matter where I am. I'll just use one of them as a pillow.

I sighed, feeling the silence growing. My brothers usually didn't talk to one another, only when they were talking about me, or to me. I sighed, wishing that my brothers weren't so overprotective.

* * *

(LOOK! I'm actually using real line-breaks for once!)

* * *

I felt a strong gust push over my face, and I shivered. A arm went around my shoulder, and I heard the soothing voice of my brother, Sephiroth, trying to wake me up in the calmest way possible. I mumbled something that I couldn't even make out, then tried to pull up the blankets more.

"We're going out to dinner tonight, and unless you want to go hungry, I suggest you hurry up,"

I sat up slowly and rubbed under my eye and yawned, "Where's Dian or Sphen?"

Dian and Sphen, our maid and butler. Oh, didn't I mention? We have a maid and butler, so ha! Oh, my parents left a huge fortune to their only sons when they died, and that mean's. . . mansion! I mean seriously, it might be the second smallest one on the block, but I'm talkin four floors, ten bathrooms, and twenty four rooms here! Not to mention a huge game room, and a huge television room. But we don't use the whole house that much, we haven't actually set one foot on the top two floors before, even when we lived here with our parents.

I watched tiredly as Seph put my shoes on, and I yawned again, then watched him put the blanket over my shoulders and helped me to my feet. I was literally a walking zombie when I just wake up, "Where we goin'?"

"A steak house, you'll like it," Seph said, then walked me to the door, "You don't even have to get dressed up!"

"Is there going to be any more of those weird business men?" I asked, shivering at the very thought.

Seph nearly growled, "No, don't worry, just the family,"

I smiled and walked down the path toward the car, where I hazily saw everyone sitting in the bed. I walked to the edge and Ansem lifted me like a kid onto the back (I was too tired to do it myself), where I laid down and closed my eyes, listening to Seph close the door.

"You'll get hurt just laying on the bed," I heard Setzer say, and I rolled around to where he was and plopped my head on his lap. I heard him chuckle, "You're way too damn spoiled,"

"I was brought up that way," I mumbled, trying to pull the blanket closer against the harsh wind, "It's what I do,"

"You're so spoiled people can smell you in china," Ansem mumbled, crossing his arms and smirking.

I grunted, "I smell good, Ansem!"

I sat up and put my back against the bed, "hasn't anyone noticed that sitting like this with no seatbelts is illegal?"

"No cops have pulled us over yet, and there isn't another car big enough to fit us all," Riku said through the small window connecting the front from the back, "In case you didn't know!"

"I don't know how mom coped with you guys," Seph mumbled, and I piped up.

"You did too! You and Setzer only had to wait three years 'till Ansem came along, then you were six when Saix and Riku were born!" I exclaimed happily, thinking that Seph and Setzer would still remember a little bit.

"Yeah, but we were ELEVEN when you came along!" Setzer laughed happily, and I pouted. He laughed more, "You were the most obnoxious kid, did you know that? You still are!"

"Playing around in the mud all the time," Seph put in.

Ansem looked at Me and smirked, "I might've only been eight, but I remember you always getting into trouble."

"Like that one time he jumped in the deep end of the pool when he was only five," Setzer laughed, and my cheeks burned with embarrassment. I put the blanket over my head and hid myself. All my brothers knew I always tried to hide myself when I was scared or embarrassed.

"Look guys, we're making him hide!" Riku exclaimed, then shouted, "five points for the annoying older brothers!"

* * *

We probably looked weird, but I was talking too much with Riku to notice. Yeah, six tall and handsome men coming into a normal restaurant. Looking like the normal person would, except they all had astonishingly silver hair! And this silver hair, was all at least to their shoulders. Riku had the shortest hair, it going to his shoulders. Sephy had the longest, it going all the way to his ass. Pardon my french. Mine, on the other hand, was about to the middle of my back.

"How many?" The waiter asked, and Setzer answered him,

"Six,"

I laughed at Riku's joke and followed with everyone. We often went out to dinner, but our chief at home didn't mind all that much.

"This good?"

Sephy nodded and I sat down on the very far edge of the booth. I watched as everyone filed in and the man passed out menus. I smiled, thanked him, but the menu down, grabbed the salt shaker, shook some into my hand, and licked it off.

"God, Sol, why do you do that?" Riku whined, and Setzer was just staring at me. They should have gotten used to this by now. I happen to have a fetish with salt. I can tell which is a good salt, and which is a bad salt. I just love salt, and Setzer keeps telling me I'll burst my arteries before I'm twenty, but I'm good enough in health. I'm skinny too, so that's good, Isn't it?

"Cuz' I'm just cool like that," I mumbled, licking more salt off my hand.

Saix reached across the table and opened my menu, pointing at it, "read,"

I put down the salt and started to read it. I always did what Saix said, because whenever he actually says something, it's to the point. He's more like my father then any of them, He's helping me with everything, and even fathers all the others.

"Hey, my name's Tuki, what can I get for you guys?" The waiter asked, smiling and taking out a pen an paper.

We all ordered, everyone either getting steak or some kind of sea food. Our family was a real 'meat' family, and everyone love steak and seafood. I liked it too, and this time I was even going for a real dare and getting my meat rare. Yum!

I smiled to them all, and watched them having nice conversations with each other. I checked my pockets and felt the bump of having a safety wad of cash in my pocket.

This happened often, and I really didn't mind. They'd go into their own conversations and leave me to think. They usually talked among themselves, and I didn't understand half of what they were saying. They usually talked to themselves, but sometimes they'd strike up conversations between other tables and people liked their company. No one talked to me, and I actually liked it that way. I didn't have any friends, and It was summer, so I didn't have to go to school, so it was better this way. We went out a lot, and they'd talk. I'd just smile, and sometimes the person from the other table would see me and talk to me a little. But they'd always go back to my brothers eventually. They knew I didn't mind, and that's why they did it, usually.

I nibbled on a french fry and watched them talk to the person in the booth at our backs. I felt someone ruffle my hair, and I looked up and smiled at the stranger.

"You have the nicest hair of them all, don't you?" She asked, her smile kind and her eyes kind of shining, "You're the best looking too,"

"Hey!" Riku exclaimed, pouting and crossing his arms.

The woman laughed and picked up a strand of my hair, "It's very silky. Light, almost grey. Not that stupid old person gray, but the gray you sometimes see on a stallion. It's so pretty, I could stare at it,"

She looked at me and smiled again, "And your eyes, the same shade as your hair,"

"He's the only one in the family with silver eyes," Ansem said with a small laugh, "Lucky little. . . all of our boyfriends so far have been hanging out with him more than us,"

The girl pouted, trying to look cute, "You're gay? I was hoping I'd had a chance,"

"Only beef, baby!" Riku exclaimed, and Sephy smacked him on the back of the head.

Seph growled and glared at Riku, "Keep it down, you doof! Not everyone in this society appreciates our sexuality,"

"I'm actually glad you guys admit it to yourself," The girl said, then gave a wide smile, "I keep trying to convince my boyfriend that he's gay, but he just wont listen,"

I just sat there, my back to everything, and I ate a huge chunk of my steak. Gees, this stuff was good! I smiled to myself and drank down some of my soda. I added more salt to my steak and took another bite. This was one of the best steaks I've ever had! Well, I say that about every steak, even if it's not that good. Wait! What am I saying? EVERY steak in this world is delicious!

I took a bite of the mashed potatoes, then stole one of Riku's french fries when he wasn't looking. They were all still talking to the people with that lady in it, and I was still musing to myself.

"Hey,"

I looked up, and saw that a man was leaning over the small boarder wall between us and the booth on the other side. I smiled at him, "hi,"

"Why ain't you talkin' with the others like that?"

I shrugged and went back to my food, figuring that he'd talk to one of my brothers. But to my great surprise, he continued to talk to me.

"You're not like your brothers," He stated in a matter of fact voice, and I looked up at him. He had spiky blonde hair, and he actually looked very kind. He looked nice because of the look in his calm baby-blue eyes.

I snorted, taking another bite, "That's what I'm told,"

"Cloud,"

I swallowed and looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, "What?"

"That's my name," He said with a small smile, reaching out his hand, "Cloud Strife of Strife Delivery service, nice to meet you,"

"I've heard of you guys," I said, then took his hand and shook it, "Solstice,"

He smiled, "Nice name. I'm glad that I'm not the only one on this planet with a strange name,"

"You should hear my brother's," I laughed, then saw another head poke up. This was a more rugged man, and he had long brown hair, with sharp eyes and features.

"Cloud, what you doing?" He asked, looking at the other, then looking at me, "Hey,"

I just nodded, and the Cloud guy went to talking to him.

"Don't mind the sour-puss, he's my boyfriend," He smiled, and then looked down at me again, "You got steak too? Wow, does this place only sell steak?"

"It sells seafood," I said, then looked back down, not really liking to talk to strangers. This is actually the longest conversation I've had with a complete stranger.

"Riku!"

My brother recognized that voice. Hell, I recognized that voice. I shivered. It was . . . Sora.

"Sora!"

Riku yelled, and climbed over me, stepping on my head and clambering over my shoulders. He jumped the gap and went into the booth that Cloud was in. I heard Riku talking with someone, then I saw Cloud again.

"I didn't know you were Riku's brother,"

"I didn't know you were Sora's,"

I went back to my food and I was starting to get a headache. Riku kicked me really hard!

I saw that Ansem was now talking to the girls boyfriend, and she was clapping happily at their flirting. The girl's boyfriend was actually rather cute (Made up character because I couldn't find a character that would be a good pairing with Ansem), but he looked weird.

Sephy was talking to the people to his back, a group of guys that HAD to be gay, but not together. Saix was talking with them too, looking rather interested in a guy with a blonde mullet. He was good-looking, just loose the mullet.

Sephy was talking with a man with a long flowing red cape and LONG black hair. The man was drop-dead sexy, but that's Sephy for you, don't settle for anything less. Setzer was talking with another blonde, him being a bit younger. He was cute too.

MAN, my brothers were shallow! But, that happens. We always get surrounded by cute guys spontaneously. It's kinda weird. But looks like all my brothers now have boyfriends. Boyfriends that were getting along amazingly well with them. I felt that same strike of panic in my heart.

Remember me telling you that my brothers were overprotective? Well, when they got boyfriends, they'd shift that overprotectiveness to their boyfriends. So that would leave me all alone in the dark until they dumped their boyfriend, or their boyfriend dumped them. It was actually a vicious circle. They'd have a boyfriend for two months, and then not have one for four or five. So that leaves most of their doting to me. But I just feel so lonely when they have their boyfriends. It makes me feel that their only protecting me because my parents asked them too.

Because my parents did.

Right before my parents died on the hospital bed, they told everyone to look after each other. But they told the five of them too look after me especially hard, because I still had a full life ahead of me.

LOOK AT ME! I'm ranting along, aren't I? Well, I do that sometimes. Ha.

When I looked up, I saw that they were all starting to leave, my brothers going with their boyfriends. Oh, and I forgot to mention (Insert growl of death here), when my brothers get boyfriends, THEY ARE COMPLETE ASS HOLES! I sighed, picked up the check (which they'd conveniently forgotten to pay) and rummaged through my pockets. There was that wad of cash I was checking for earlier, now you know why I need it.

The check was a bit over two hundred dollars, but I always keep two hundred in my pocket, and another two hundred in my wallet. See? Being a rich-kid pays off sometimes. I looked back at my meal, seeing that I wasn't finished. I put the money needed in the check thingy, and continued to eat by myself.

This happened about once a month. . . I'm used to it. . . I really am used to it.

I'm used to the fact that my brothers jump at the chance for something else to dote over other than me.

I'm used to the fact that my brothers often forget me.

I'm used to the fact that this isn't the first time I've been surrounded by a warm environment, people, and families. . . but feel completely alone.

* * *

I went to the place where Sephy had parked the car and wasn't surprised to find that it was gone. Wonder why I keep the extra two hundred? Cab fare. See, I think ahead. The first time this happened, I had the beg the waitress, and she called my brothers cell. She scolded them for a good thirty minutes about leaving a child unattended, and she was about to call the police when I said that everything was fine. I was smart then, knowing that if my brothers went to jail, I'd have to got to a foster home. I was real smart for a kid that age. I was seven.

I'd learned after that, that it was just annoying to keep telling the waiter over and over about my predicament. And My brothers were always cranky when I stole them away from their dates, so I always told the asking waiters that they'd told me to put down the money while they went to start up the car, and I'd have extra money for a cab fare.

Now, I know what your thinking. My brothers couldn't possibly be that mean! I know, their not. They just forget sometimes. Their really nice brothers, and they don't need to spend all their time going around, caring for me. I can take care of myself.

I went to the curb and put out my hand whenever a cab would come. I knew they wouldn't stop for a kid my age, but I liked thinking about it a minute. But I always tried for a person who would stop for a kid my age. But I always had to hold out a fifty in the air when one went by, they'd always stop.

"2363 Harlem Drive. 2100 east, please," I said, then felt the car jolt when he took off. I looked out the window and watched all the colors swish by. It couldn't have been later than 10:00, but it was already pitch black, the lights of the city shining.

It wasn't long until we made it to my house, and I payed the man, and walked up the long and dreary sidewalk to the front gate, then I'd have to walk all of the driveway to the front door. I hated this part more than anything.

I pressed the button to have the gatekeeper open the gates. They were always closed, and I'd grown to know the gatekeeper quite well.

The screen of the television that the gatekeeper used buzzed and his calm face appeared. He was such a nice old man. He had dark skin, and a light beard going around his lips. He was almost bald, but he still had a bit of hair on the sides.

"Solstice," He smiled at me, and his voice was so nice that I almost smiled back. But I was shivering too much to smile. He noticed this, "I'll open up the gate right now and come down on the cart to pick you up. You don't need to walk all the way to the door."

I actually did smile this time, "Thanks, Frank,"

I walked through the opening doors and saw that he was already waiting for me in that golf-cart looking vehicle. He used it often, and sometimes would let me try driving it. He had bad legs, so the family bought it for him.

I sat in the front and he started off at a fast pace, wanting to get to the house quick before I froze.

"Good thing you have a jacket on," I mused, then smiled at him, "You keeping warm in the gatekeeper place?"

He laughed at my name of the security room, and nodded, "Sephiroth installed the heater last week, remember?"

I smiled, then remembered, "Did Ansem already set up the hot chocolate machine?"

"Yes,"

"Did Riku put lots of blankets in the closet?"

"Yes,"

"Did Setzer put an inflatable mattress in there just in case you get snowed in?"

"Yes,"

"Did Saix put sheets for the mattress in there?"

"Yes, already!" He laughed, then slapped me on the back, noting me that we were at the door, "You worry almost as much as your brothers,"

"Well, you're my friend," I laughed, then went to the doors, and opened them.

I was hit with the sound of laughter. Looks like my brothers invited their friends over. Damn, I hated that I needed to walk through the living room to get to my room.

I walked in the living room and almost all the furniture was full.

"Bro!"

Riku put an arm around my shoulders, and led me to the middle where everyone was staring at me.

There was Sora, standing next to Riku.

"Solstice, this is Vincent," Sephy laughed, his arm around the black haired man's shoulder. They all thought I wanted to know their boyfriends. I really didn't care.

Ansem was always next, "This is Kit,"

Then Setzer: "meet Hayner,"

Then Saix: "Demyx,"

I already knew Riku's long-time boyfriend, and I really didn't care.

I watched them all talking happily. They were all talking to their boyfriends one minute, then they were all talking to one another. They looked like the perfect family. They all looked so happy, in each others arms, with each other. My brothers were truly happy with them. . . and not me.

I shook my head of these ridiculous thoughts and walked out. I wanted to take a shower. I wanted to go to bed.

* * *

The next day, I heard their laughing and voices again. Wow, they already spent the night. I laughed to myself and opened my door.

"Hi!"

I looked lazily up at the voice that had said 'hi'. It was that Demyx guy. Wow, usually their boyfriends didn't mess with me, wait. . . this is the first time that any of them had actually talked to me.

"I'm Demyx if you remember,"

I nodded, reaching up and rubbing under my eye. I pouted when I saw that my shirt was too long and covering up my hand. I rubbed under my eye anyway. I yawned, little tears forming in my eye. I looked up and saw that he was still there.

"You're. . ."

I waited, wondering if he'd get out of my way.

"So. . ."

I put my hand down and looked up at him, confused.

"CUTE!" (Insert little floating hearts here)

I was shocked for only a moment before he actually glomped me. I stood there for a sec, wondering what in good hell he was doing, then he let go.

"I noticed that you looked really sad last night," He said, then smirked at me, putting his thumbs up, "SO! I got all the others up and were gonna talk about how cute you are. You're brothers aren't included."

I sighed and closed my door.

I slowly walked back to my bed and crawled back in it, pulling the blankets over my head and trying to fall back asleep. My brothers never got up early, but I could wait until they got up.

I heard the door open. I also heard many footsteps, and I groaned.

"You okay?"

It was Sora.

I felt the weight shift, and I felt a hand on my head. Sora had always been one of the nicer boyfriends. I nodded, knowing he'd feel that I nodded. I closed my eyes, feeling more people sit on the bed.

"No your not," I didn't know who that was, but I really didn't recognize him. I'd heard all their voices last night, and I was fairly sure that this one was that Kit guy.

I nodded again and spoke, "I'm fine. Go away,"

"We're not leaving," this one was Hayner, I knew. I growled and hid myself further. All of these men were twenty and older! I was only fourteen!

"What's wrong? You won't talk to us, and you didn't stay down there last night," Demyx said, and I wished I could stick my tongue out at him.

"I didn't want to," I said, clutching at the blankets, "You're all older than me,"

"That's not the reason," Sora said, and I knew he was being serious for the one moment in his life, "You're not acting like you usually do. You're usually so happy and hyper, almost like me."

I laughed, but that choked off, "That's not possible."

I couldn't believe I was starting to cry. I could feel the prick at the back of my eye, and I tried to hold it back. But it gave it all away when my shoulders started to shake. I knew Sora could feel that.

I felt something pick me up, and with my head still covered by the blanket, something held me. Like a mother would hold their child. It was so warm, and it felt so loving. I didn't know who it was, but by the way my small body fit in his lap, I knew it was that Vincent guy.

I tried to push him away, but he kept me there.

* * *

They were nice. Really. But I'm not used to people yet. You know?

I'm walking down a random alley thinking to myself about my brothers' new boyfriends. Their nice. I like them all, and Vincent is cool, but he doesn't talk much. Demyx and Sora talk too much. Hayner smiles and goes along with everything too much. And Kit is. . . umm, how could you say it? If ANSEM is dating him, he has to be a bit weird.

I actually kind of like them. No! I can't be saying things like this! I shouldn't like the people that take my brothers away from me!

I felt a hand on my shoulder and I turned around.

It was one of Riku's old boyfriends. But behind him was four more people, that looked like all of my brothers' old boyfriends. I raised an eyebrow, backing a step up.

"Hello, Solstice," He mumbled, and I hit the wall to my back. They all surrounded me and I gulped. My back was to a wall, and I would run to the right, but two were blocking me. I looked him hard in the eye.

"What do you want?" I asked, glaring. He smirked, then brought something out from behind him. The polished metal of the blade caught my sight immediately. I gasped and looked at him again.

"Riku never loved me, all he talked about was you," He smirked, then brought the blade up to my chin, "All those stupid brothers of yours cared about was you,"

I gasped. But. . . whenever they were with a boyfriend, they ignored me!

He smirked again, "Did you know what I figured out? That your brothers are just looking out for you because of your parents. They really hate you. They hate your living guts."

I gasped, but I couldn't let them get advantage of me! I smirked back, "Well, if he cares more about someone he hates than you, that explains how much you meant to him,"

The man growled and held up the blade, bringing it down in one swoop. I dodged, but it still cut a clean mark down my right eye. That hurt. Really bad.

"First I'm going to take your right eye," He smirked, marveling at his work. He punched me hard in the stomach, as if trying to add even more pain. I slid to the ground, and one of them kicked me in the side, making me reel in pain.

"Then your hair, then your left eye. That's all they talked about. Your beautiful hair, your beautiful eyes."

I hissed in pain when they grabbed a lock of my hair roughly and started to hack away at it.

"Stop!" I yelled, still feeling that burning.

The others joined in, grabbing and hacking at my hair. I didn't care about my hair! My eye hurt so much I wanted to hurl, I just wanted to get away from them.

They were cutting it shorter and shorter, smiling more, and more.

"STOP!"

That cry wasn't from me. I looked up with my good eye and saw a figure outlined in the setting sun. He looked like a hero in those movies you sometimes see.

It was Vincent.

I smiled weakly, and they all ran. I saw the black-haired man running up to me, and I put my hand against the wall, the other against my eye. It was bleeding pretty bad. I tried to stand, all my weight against the wall.

"Solstice!" He yelled, and I felt my body weight give. He caught me.

* * *

I opened my eyes, well, eye. I mumbled something incoherent to anyone who would hear it, but to me, it was, "I'm hungry,"

I looked around and felt a soft weight on my eye. I touched it lightly and saw that it was bandaged, It still stung a little, but nothing like before. I sighed and laid my hand in my hair. Well, what was left of my hair. I winced. Almost all my hair was gone, totally hacked off, looking like one of those weird people that had the short and spiky hair.

"Looks like you're awake,"

I looked over, and saw that Vincent was standing there. I gasped, then saw that he was holding a tray.

"I've got to get back to Sephiroth," He said with a small laugh, "But it's a good thing I bandaged your wound before it got infected,"

I looked toward the window, sighing, "so none of my brothers did it?"

He sighed sadly and set the food down on the chair next to the table, "Eat this before it get's cold. Demyx and Kit will be in here before long to check on you,"

I nodded, glad that it wasn't one of my brothers checking on me. I was happy, yet entirely sad at the same time. I couldn't help but believe what that man had said to me the other day.

I know he said that all they thought about was me, but they were probably bad thoughts. All they wanted to do was get rid of me and live their own lives, but they couldn't because of mom and dad.

I hated them.

I couldn't help but gasp as I thought this. How could I hate someone so close to me? People that had looked after me my whole like.

It was easy, actually. It was so simple, just to hate their guts, hate their very existence, hate everything about them, even hating that I looked like them. But. . . I didn't. Now that I thought about it, I didn't look like them. My silver hair was more shining and silver than all of theirs, more silky and smooth. My eyes were pure silver, nothing faltering the color. No blue, like Riku. No mako, like Sephiroth.

That phrase was surprisingly easy to say. It was so weird: I hate them.

I said that with no remorse, no bad feelings, nothing.

I snorted, feeling that I was happy that I could admit that fact to myself. I looked to the door when I heard it open.

"You okay?"

It was Demyx, followed by Kit, Sora, and Hayner. I even saw that Vincent had come again to check on me. I sat up in the bed and turned to that my feet were hanging off the edge of the bed. I stood and looked at them hard, no longer having a happy and joyful look to my eyes.

"What's wrong, Solstice?"

I was so tired of people asking me that. I glared at them and gritted my teeth, looking at them. I smirked, better and more intimidating that even Ansem could smirk, and looked at them, "What's wrong? What's WRONG!!! I'm tired of every little damn person in this shitty world asking if I'm alright! I'm not alright! I was left at a restaurant, having my brothers leave me to pay the tab. I had to take a cab home millions of times. I know my brothers hate me. I know that they jump at every chance to switch their attention to someone else, so they don't have to look after me. I KNOW THEY HATE ME!"

I Glared at them all, having them all watch in shock.

"Sol-!" Sora started, but I cut him off.

"No, Sora, not this time. No more, 'I'll talk to them' no more 'they love you' you're just a big and whining baby, Sora. You can't stand up for yourself, and you've never had anyone hurt you in your entire life! Good thing Riku has you, because lord knows he can't go without a good screw every once in a while to clear his head. But no, they don't use you. They use me. They hate me because I stop them from having a normal life.

"My brothers are ass holes. You all know that. They-!"

I was cut off. My cheek stung from the rebound of the punch. Someone just punched me! I looked back up slowly and nearly died when I saw who it was.

It was Vincent.

The one person who I thought truly cared about me. He held me when I cried about my brothers, he helped me when I was being attacked, he bandaged my scars, and this is his final farewell? I glared at him, and saw that the door was open, and Riku was holding Sora. I glared at them all and walked through the crowd of people. All ten people had heard what I had spoke. And now they heard what I said: "I hate you all, with every fiber of my being,"

I walked and opened a door in the hall.

We never went up to the second and third floors, but hell, there was a first for everything.

* * *

I walked to a random room and opened it. Nothing.

I walked to another room. Nothing.

Another room. Nothing.

Another room. Nothing.

Walking, and finding room after room. Nothing in them.

I didn't know what I was looking for, but I found it.

I opened the last door, on the last hall, of the third floor. I was so surprised that I actually found it.

There, in the middle of the room was a shining circle. Green and blues and hints of yellows were floating up from the glowing circle and swirling around and around, making it look like a little whirlpool of light.

There was a figure next to the circle, and it spoke, but I never saw it's face.

"You, Solstice, are destined to travel to the other worlds,"

"Cut this shit, man," I snapped, turning my head away from the light, as not to be blinded, "Why are you in my home?"

"Is this really your home?" the man chuckled, and I looked at him again, "Is this where you really call home?"

I just watched him with a warning glance.

"Do you wish to find a place where you can really find home?" He asked, and his voice seemed so full of emotion and amusement, "Do you want to find a place where you can go and be happy, not like with your brothers here?"

"What are you talking about?" I growled, clenching my fists, "Of course I would, but that's not possible!"

"Oh, but it is," He said, and arched his right arm out, and I had to put my arms up to cover my eye so that I wouldn't be blinded by the sudden flash of light. I slowly got used to it and brought it down, looking around.

I was surrounded by small planets. I was just floating in a mass of dark sky, and all the planets were floating around me. They were unusually small, and some were brightly colored. They looked so strange, but the man speaking again brought me out of my daze.

"You can choose any one of these worlds you wish," He laughed, then pointed to a random one, "In this world, you are destined to be an enemy of that man you met at that restaurant. Cloud. You are destined to follow him, but to be killed by him."

I grunted, "Why would I go to that one, fool?"

The truth was, I really liked Cloud. I thought he was a good guy. I didn't want to stalk him, nor be killed by him!

He smirked, then pointed to another, "In this one, you are Riku's older brother. You are destined to watch him as he goes on with his career as a star, finding love in an odd place. You are merely back up, coming from Japan in the middle of his lifetime."

I growled again, "I though I cleared this through with you, I don't want to be with any of my brothers,"

He then pointed to another smaller planet. It was bright gold, and it seemed to be shimmering.

"Twilight Town," He murmured, "Go there and help a boy named Roxas. He is supposed to be succumbed into helping the enemy into unleashing Kingdom Hearts. There will still be Hayner, there but you don't mind, do you? You need to get Roxas's memories as a nobody back for him, then get another boy named Axel to do the same as Roxas did,"

I looked at him, raising an eyebrow. What was all this shit? I glared at him, then tilted my head, "No brothers?"

"None,"

"I'll do it," I sighed, and there was this weird sensation of having my heart in my throat. I sighed, closed my eyes, and waited.

* * *

**I have another chapter written if you want me to update it. And, I KNOW. This probably wouldn't happen in real life. I mean, the brothers forgetting the other brother and all that jazz, but I wanted some sympathy and a plot for later on. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for taking so long with this. The only reason I'm really updating is because only ONE person reviewed. I need more reviews if you want me to update. **

* * *

SEVEN YEARS LATER:

* * *

I yawned into my hand, grunting as I stepped into the glowing circle again. That man had talked to me again, and I'd grown to calling him Bob. He was a nice guy, actually. He chatted with me about the worlds, and told me the ones that were the best to go to.

I've been to eight worlds. Twilight Town (I really need to go visit Roxas and Axel again – they got married – so cute!), Halloween Town, Midgar , America (Weird place), a weird Feudal Era, King Mickey's Castle (Really cool guy!), and Destiny Islands. Destiny Islands had Riku and Sora on it, but they didn't have any clue who I was, so that all worked out.

Guess what . . . I'm 21!!!!!!!! WOO! GO ME!!

I smiled to myself, and then saw that Bob wasn't here. I shrugged, and then looked around the worlds. But before I could choose, the bright light around me erupted and I put my hands up.

* * *

I looked around, not liking what I was seeing. Wanna guess what I was seeing? Got that right! My 'very-last-room-on-the-last-room-on-the-third-floor' room! My hand went instinctively to finger the scar over my eye. I've never been able to see through this eye, and some people said I'd have trouble with depth, but I have no trouble at all. Plus, I got one hell of a cool scar!

My other hand went to my hair.

It was down to the joint of my knees. I couldn't believe that it grew that much from a couple stubs in seven stupid years. I smirked and walked to the door, couldn't hurt to look around, wouldn't it?

Hell, they probably moved out by now, anyway.

I walked all the way down the hall, getting a bit confused. The people who'd moved in here after my brothers re-modeled the place, and I could barely find the stairs.

"Papa, could you help me find my toy?"

Told you. New people.

I walked into the living room, which was thankfully in the same place. I walked through, looking across all the new furniture, and then I heard something I'd hoped I wouldn't hear.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I turned my head and saw that the little kid that I'd heard was screaming his head off and pointing and staring at me. I looked lazily at him, and then saw a person appear behind him. I didn't recognize him, so, logically, a new family must have moved in.

"…S-Solstice?"

I looked into his eyes and knew who it was. I smirked and put my hand on my hip, "yo, bro, how's it goin'? Been seven years, huh?"

It was Riku. He looked the same. But with longer hair and more defined features. I smirked, then walked to the door, "I'll be leaving, tell the others I'm back, okay?"

"Wait! Solstice!"

I turned around and saw that Sora was standing next to Riku. I sighed, rolling my eyes, "What you want, loser?"

"Wait here," He went running.

I waited, surprisingly.

I walked into the living room, looking everything over. I sat on the couch lazily, propped up my feet on the coffee table and leaned my head back on the couch. God… this was comfortable. I sighed contentedly, letting my eyes slide shut. What would it hurt? I lay down on my side and pulled my feet up. I bet I looked childish, my knees almost up to my chest, my arms in front of me. But what would it hurt.

Everything.

* * *

I opened my eyes again, feeling something on my body. I looked over and saw that someone had placed a blanket over me, and I could smell that smell of baking turkey. We used to always have it at Thanksgiving.

I didn't want to move. I knew that if I moved I'd have to talk to someone.

I sat up anyway, moved the blankets away, and stood. I needed to get out of here. I walked to the door and left, noticing that no one knew that I was leaving. They probably would be glad that I was gone.

I walked down the drive and stopped when I saw something catch my eye. I looked over and saw, on the ground, was a small little gravestone. I wondered what in the heck someone would put a gravestone there for, until I saw the name.

FRANK SAMUELS.

I gulped, and then walked the rest of the way out, going out through the opening gates. I saw another person walking through the gates, and I met their eyes.

Sephiroth. I gulped again.

"Solstice?" He asked, his eyes going wide. I smirked, and walked away. He made no move to stop me.

* * *

I heard the song over the intercom and tapped my foot to it. I know, I'm 21, but damn, this was a catchy song!

"I'm turning Japanese, I think I'm turning Japanese, I really think so." I mumbled to myself, moving my hips as I walked down the long hall in the supermarket. I looked around and saw that it was nearly deserted. That's probably because it was a Sunday and 7 in the morning. I smirked to myself and, proudly, started to dance.

"I'm turning Japanese, I think I'm turning Japanese, I really think so." I sand to myself, twirling in a circle and spreading my arms out.

I smiled and was nearly hopping. Didn't anyone know how fun it was to dance when no one's watching? Damn, this is fun!

I did the wave with my arms and hopped on one foot, shaking my hips from left to right. This was too much damn fun! If anyone were too see me, they would have though that I was four or five, or fourteen. But, no, no, no, I wasn't fourteen anymore. I was on the inside, but not anymore.

"I'm turning Japanese, I think I'm turning Japanese, I really think so." I twirled like a ballerina. Snorting, I laughed about the ballerina-ness of it all. I put my arms out and moved them up and down like one of those old 80s dances.

I stopped quickly when I heard someone snort.

I looked up and saw that a person was sitting on top of a shelf. I gaped at him, then turned around and quickly walked away.

"Wait!" I heard this behind me, but NO! I wasn't waiting for someone I just completely humiliated myself in front of, "Wait!"

I stopped turned around, and stuck my fist in his face, "Leave me alone, you self-loathing stupid man!"

I turned back around and started to walk away when I heard someone laughing. God, I just humiliated myself more with that insult. I cursed and walked out the place, still carrying the basket of un-paid items in my hands. The sensors didn't go off, and no one cared that I was shoplifting.

"I'm Sam," I heard next to me, and I looked. It was that stupid and annoying man! I growled and looked forward, my knuckles almost turning white I was clenching them so hard. He laughed and put his hand over mine, "Don't be so mad, you'll give yourself a headache,"

"Too late," I growled, and shook his hand off. I looked to the right, blushing at his touch, but that pounding in my head wore the blush off. I scowled and stopped stomping when I came near a park. I stopped and hopped under a tree, sighing and laying my back against the bark.

"Care to tell me what your name is?"

I jumped and looked next to me, only to see the guy sitting there nicely, smiling.

He had electric black hair, and spark-yellow eyes. His smile was contagious, and his posture was laid-back. He looked like the kind of person I could like, but I REALLY didn't want to like anyone right now.

"Solstice," I grumbled, looking through the basket of things I stole. Turns out I just stole breakfast, goody me.

I tossed him something absently and went back to searching.

I was surprised when he stood and started to walk away.

"See you later Solstice, thanks for the free breakfast,"

no… no… not another person leaving me… not another person walking away from me during a meal that I wished to spend with them…not another person leaving me alone and expecting me to pay for everything…not again…

I turned my head and fought off the growing tears. DAMMIT! I was twenty-one for heaven's sake! I put my hands to my face and pulled my knees up. I felt my shoulders shake and I cursed myself, mumbling how stupid I was for crying.

"Solstice…"

I looked up and saw that Sam was sitting right in front of me. I looked away and put my face in the crook of my knees.

"I was kidding . . ."

"Don't joke like that around me!" I yelled, not intending to sound so harsh. I cursed myself again and grabbed at my hair, pulling hard, "Damn it!"

"Don't do that," He said calmly, putting his hand over mine. I shook his hand off, but he put it back on. I growled and lifted my head to glare at him.

"Leave me alone," I nearly yelled, but I didn't. He just stood there, looking me in the eyes. I quickly averted them and covered my head again.

I heard him gasp, as if in realization. He then put his hand on my shoulder, "Look at me, please,"

I looked up slowly, my eyes glittering probably. My hair was falling everywhere in front of my eyes, and I sniffed again.

"You're perfect,"

I looked up at him confused, and he put his hands on my shoulders, "will you please be a model for my art class?"

I just looked at him with a gaze that clearly said 'WTF?'

"My teacher, he trusts me more than anyone else, so he assigned me to finding a good model for tomorrow when he couldn't. I couldn't find anyone, and I think you are completely perfect!" Sam said, and all I could do was nod.

* * *

I really did think it was going to be all one big hoax. Like, it would be a nude modeling class, or he was just trying to trick me out and when I got there, they had no idea what I was talking about, and that was a science class.

But it wasn't.

When I went into the college, clad in tight jeans, a slightly form-fitting green sweater, and my (needed to be cut) long hair up in a ponytail. I walked to the classroom he told me to go to, and I actually saw him waiting in front of it, looking nervous.

"My teacher doesn't think I got a model!" He exclaimed, grabbing me by the hand and opening the door, dragging me inside.

There was a bustle of students, all at easels setting up paints, all in their own little worlds with their paints and friends. Man, if I had any artistic talent at all, I'd want to be in this class. But I didn't have long to marvel, before I was dragged across the room to a desk, and Sam bowed deeply.

"Sorry Mr. Nighten!" He exclaimed, bowing again, "he's here. Thank god class doesn't start for thirty more minutes,"

It was this busy even when it was a whole half hour before class? Wow.

I looked over at Sam, and then saw that the man working at the desk wasn't even paying any attention to what Sam was saying. He was just leaning over his desk and writing something down furiously.

"Is he shy?" The teacher asked, not even looking up.

Sam snorted, "Incredibly"

"Handsome?"

"Gorgeous," I blushed at this, looking at Sam in shock. He just winked.

"How old?" the teacher asked, setting down his pen but not looking up. I remembered that I hadn't told Sam my age, so I spoke up when he gave me a look.

"I'm twenty-one," I said, blushing lightly. He looked up quickly, as if shocked by my voice. What? Didn't he know that I was standing right here?

His mouth formed a small 'o', and his eyes widened. I blushed and looked away, slightly intimidated by his intense gaze. I heard a chair scraping against the wood of the floor, and I felt a hand touch my cheek, his thumb brushing over the scar on my eye. I tensed for a moment, wondering what this person could be doing.

"He's perfect," and I looked again. I saw that the teacher was standing in front of me, and I gulped.

"This scar," He said, looking at it, "only adds to that fact. It's makes you look more human, very nice. I suppose you can't see out of that eye? Too bad."

I scowled and looked away, backing out of his grasp, "Why is everyone calling me perfect? I'm far from it,"

He just laughed, turning to Sam, "Samuel, go get your easel ready,"

Sam bowed again, and I looked back up at the teacher, "what do I do?"

"My name is Eclipse," He said, reaching out his hand, "And don't worry, I'll do all the work,"

"Solstice," I said, taking his hand. He laughed and pulled me into one of the back rooms behind his desk quickly.

"Put this on," He said, throwing a shirt at me. I looked at it, then at him. He just waved at me to hurry up.

I blushed and reached to take off my green sweater. I pulled it up and over my head, feeling my hair tickle my back. I looked at the shirt and was silently wondering how I would put it on. I felt eyes on me, and I looked up to see that the teacher was staring at me. I blushed, he did too, and we both looked away. Not that I felt any attraction to this man, I just felt that it was odd that he was in the room when I was changing.

I slipped on the shirt, doing up the buttons quickly. It was a white, long-sleeved shirt that had billowing sleeves. It was rimmed in navy blue, and the neck part went to my jaw. He looked my over and smiled, "You can keep the jeans on, well . . . no! I have the perfect ones!"

He dug through a pile of things, threw a pair of navy slacks at me, and turned his back to me, "Hurry and put them on!"

I did, and then I put my other clothing on a table near the door. He turned around again and smiled, "perfect, well, almost,"

He walked to me, and I just barely noticed he was only about an inch taller than me, "How old are you?"

"Twenty-four," He smiled, then reached up and took out my hair from the band, letting it run over my shoulders and down my back. He flipped some of it in front of my shoulders and eyes, and then opened the door, walking in front of me, and walking down the steps to the middle of the room.

"Come on, Solstice," He said, gesturing for me to follow. I did, and felt rather nervous. I didn't feel comfortable in these clothes, and I felt many eyes on me.

"Sit here," he said, and I sat on the stool in the very middle of the room. He made me have one of my feet on the middle wrung of the stool, so it was bent. My other one was strait. He had me have one of my hands on the stool, next to where I was sitting, and the other elbow resting against my knee. He had me close my eyes, and tilt my head. He put all of my bangs on my right side behind my ear, so that my scar was plainly visible, and that the way I was tilting my head kept the other bangs away from my scar. He made me keep my eyes shut, and I could tell he was stepping back to marvel at me. I didn't like people marveling at me.

"Everyone," I was tempted to open my eyes when he started to speak.

I heard a chorus of voices, "Good morning, Mr. Nighten,"

I gulped, having heard a lot of voices.

"Alright, today, this man is your model," He said, and I could hear him circling me, "This is going to be difficult. I want you to draw every curve, every wrinkle of his shirt, everything. He's a very shy person, like I said he'd be last time,"

I blushed at this, and I heard some giggles at that.

"See?" He said, and I wanted to glare at him. I was glad my eyes were closed though. Remember? I have a tendency to try and cover my face when I'm embarrassed.

"Okay, if you wish, you can come up and get a closer look,"

I heard a few girls squeal at the idea of seeing me up close. Was I that good looking?

"Remember, shy,"

I heard bustling feet, and I heard a round of commotion around me. I could hear compliments about me, about me being the best looking model yet, how handsome I was, how this was going to be a great assignment. I gulped and clenched my eyes tighter.

"I'm sorry about this," I heard that voice, it was Sam, "They've never reacted like this before. They usually don't care what the model is. You're really special this time."

I blushed even more, and the students went back to their stations and started.

I was glad I wasn't surrounded anymore, but I was still the center of attention.

I tried to keep completely still, and I kept that by thinking to myself. Hmm . . . what would be good to think of?

Wow, that teacher was a sight to look at. Very strange guy. I just barely noticed, but he had the darkest green eyes I've ever seen! And his hair, that bouncy cherry red. I've always loved people with red or orange hair and green eyes, contrasts so well.

I smiled a little bit, and the silence of the room wasn't getting to me as much, and I was pretty comfortable.

Before I knew it, I was in that world in the middle of sleeping and awake. I wasn't aware of the things around me, and I was pretty sure I was going to fall asleep. I didn't sleep much last night, because I didn't have anywhere to stay, so I just sat on a park bench. I was surprised I wasn't yelled at by a hobo.

I sighed, and finally let my mind go to sleep. I was a fairly still sleeper, and I didn't move much in my sleep. I'm sure I'll do the same here.

* * *

I never open my eyes when I wake up, and when I woke up then, I didn't either. I took that time to think that maybe someone was still painting me, and I kept my eyes closed.

"Solstice?"

I jolted and opened my eyes. I felt a hand on my shoulder and I looked over lazily. It was Eclipse, and we were the only ones in the room; spare a few older people sitting at easels.

"Do you mind?" He asked, gesturing to the people who had stopped painting, "These people came in to speak to me, and when they saw you, they needed to paint you. And since you were asleep, I thought no harm of it. Do you mind? They're almost done,"

I shook my head, yawned, and went back to that position, sighing contentedly and hearing Eclipse laugh at me. I didn't do anything and I just went back to that world of half-sleep.

Before I knew it, I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I opened my eyes.

"Hello," one of the men said, holding out his hand, "My name's Peter Craft, I'm one of the men who insisted to paint you,"

"Ahh," I said, and then looked at him, "are you all done?"

He nodded and I jumped off the stood, stretching and moving my hands above my head and stretching. I yawned again, then looked around lazily, "Where's 'Clipse?"

He laughed and tilted his head, "Getting your clothing."

I nodded and saw that everyone who painted me was rather young. Some of them could have even be younger than me.

"You were a very good model, we were wondering if you could come again and maybe be a model to some of the older art students?" He asked, drawing his brows together to listen to my answer in question.

"I have nothing else to do," I said, and then looked at him, still stretching my legs and butt, "But I'll still have to have time to search for a job,"

"We'll pay you," He said, "I'm principal here, and this is a very well-done college. The teachers here are paid well. And the art models are paid even better since we can't find a lot of them,"

I sighed, "What's the catch?"

He looked at me weird, and I actually blushed at the bluntness of my question. I looked away and stuttered a little, "I mean, there's usually a catch in this kind of situation. Like I have to model naked or something like that,"

"Heavens no!" He laughed, patting me on the shoulder, "We have special models for that, and you're not going to be one,"

I sighed and looked at him, raising an eyebrow, "No catch?"

"The only catch is you'll have to look at Mr. Nighten every day," He laughed, then pointed with his thumb to the door, "I'll go grab some paper work and you can get dressed. All you need to do is wait here,"

I nodded and he walked out, a smile on his face.

I felt another hand on my shoulder and I turned around, seeing Eclipse standing here with a smirk on his face, "did I hear you say 'Clipse earlier?"

I blushed and nodded a little, always having been a strangely honest person, "I mean, I was tired,"

"I like it," He said, throwing my clothing at me, "Where are you staying? I might need to talk to you later about what were going to do tomorrow,"

I blushed even more and looked away, feeling so embarrassed, "I don't actually have anywhere to stay,"

"What?" He asked, looking at me, right about to enter his office room with all the clothing, "Where did you stay last night?"

"Umm . . . park bench," I murmured, and the next thing I knew, he was standing in front of me. He was sure quick with putting away that clothing. I looked at him with wide eyes, and his eyes were searching mine.

He just glared daggers. Then we both turned to see the principal walking in with a stack of papers. Eclipse raised his eyebrows, and I just stared, that ever-famous blush still on my face. 'Clipse was the first to speak up: "what are you doing, Pete?"

"Didn't the man tell you?" The man answered, walking forward with a confident stride, "We're hiring him as a model for the AP and Advanced Art students,"

Eclipse looked at me with raised eyebrows, "Well, then I'm glad I'm the teacher for those classes. Why was I not informed?"

"Because you're not in charge of the models," He answered in a stern voice then handed the stack of papers to poor old me. I looked at them with an extremely confused look, and he laughed.

"Just sign where it says," He said and gave me a pen.

I plopped on the ground cross-legged and bend over to write the stuff.

The first thing I was to write down was my full name.

Solstice Growen Holivista

Age: Twenty-one

Sex: Male

Blood type (I silently wondered why they would want that): O

Zodiac sign (what? Why?): Gemini

The questions went on like this, and I knew that the others were watching me with much interest. I didn't get why. I absently flipped the hair out of my face, and I thought that maybe that looked like a movie star flipping their hair. That would have been cool. I stood up and handed it to the man, smiling, "Here you go!" He read it over and smiled while he did,

"Solstice Growen Holivista? Any relation to Saix Holivista?"

"Brother," I sighed, scuffing my shoes and putting my hands in my pockets, "When do I need to get here?"

"When can you?" He asked, almost TOO eagerly.

I shrugged lightly, "Anytime,"

He smiled and patted me on the shoulder roughly, "Great! Be here tomorrow at seven sharp! We have a class then! We'll have you model Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. There's only classes at seven, twelve, and five, you think you can make those?"

"Uhh…" I gulped, looking at my watch. Eclipse said in my defense and put his hand on my shoulder: "he'll be able to make it,"

"Good!"

I smiled as the man walked out, looking over my paper-thingy. I hope he wouldn't mind that I didn't have a resume. Hmm, that might be a problem.

"Oh, how am I going to be here?" I asked hesitantly, as if I might offend him. I hated being so damn shy all the time, it's just I'm used to being hurt.

He smiled and patted me on the back, handing me my clothes with that goofy grin of his, "You'll be staying at my house! Don't worry, I'm not married, so no noisy woman to tell you not to come in!"

I laughed a little, then caught on to the initial situation, "Wait, your house!? I couldn't!"

Eclipse laughed and nodded, "Yes you could, now get dressed so that we can go home!"

"I'll need to go to my old home to get some things," I said, and he looked at me. He nodded knowingly, and he didn't ask why I didn't just stay there. I'll thank him later for not asking, I don't think I have the will power to explain that one again.

* * *

I had to ask Eclipse to come to the door with me. I couldn't believe it, I actually had to ask Eclipse to come to the door with me on my own house. Was it the fact that my five backstabbing brothers were behind door number one? Well, yes, and that I heard from a little birdie (Peter), that all of them had kept the boyfriends that they met on that night. So, Sephiroth still had Vincent, Saix still had Demyx, yadda, yadda, yadda.

I knocked loudly and twirled to hide behind Eclipse, and he just laughed, but didn't make me move.

The door was answered within seconds, and it was answered by Setzer. He took one look at the man, then looked at me poking my head out from behind the man's back and _squealed, _"Solstice!!!"

I gulped and he reared forward, grabbing my arm and jerking me forward into his arms. The rebound of my name echoing through the halls of the house gathered everyone quicker than you could say 'eep'.

I gave him the satisfaction of hugging me. But nothing more than that, and I pulled away after ten seconds. I looked at him with a strait face, "Setzer, I'm borrowing clothes from you guys, got it?"

"Of course!"

He wouldn't stop staring at me. Even after I walked into the house and into the crowd of waiting people, they wouldn't stop staring at me. I hoped to dear god that Eclipse followed me, I couldn't deal with this alone. All I just needed to do was get clothes. I should be able to compose myself for long enough…you know, not migrate into acting like my old self before I left them…I held my breath and walked into the living room, waiting for them to tell me where I could get clothes. Then…I made the mistake of looking down…

"PUPPY!" I yelled, and knelt down immediately, looking at the adorable ball of fluff that was the cutest thing ever. I rubbed under its ears and it jumped up into my arms, licking my face. It was so cute! It was poofy and fluffy and just big enough to hold in your arms. It had a strange gray color, and it wouldn't stop licking my face and snuggling. This poor thing must not get that much attention, even in a house of lots of people!

I laughed and held it up, watching it wave its paws in an attempt to get nearer to me. I laughed again and brought it closer. Then…I realized what I was doing.

"SHIT!!" I yelled, and the puppy whimpered in my grasp. I immediately held it softly and told it that it wasn't him I was yelling at. He seemed to like that answer and licked my face again.

I looked up at the others and sighed, standing up with the cutie pie still in my arms and looked at them, "you guys have any clothes for me?"

They were all smiling fondly, and I knew I screwed up big time.

I growled and walked to the couch, grabbing the random blanket that I'd seen coming in and threw it over my head, sitting on the couch with my knees drawn to my chest, "Can you just go get the damn clothes for me, please?"

I heard someone scuttle off and I felt the weight shift on the side of me. I could still FEEL the eyes of my brothers and their boyfriends on me. Did they like staring that much?

"Solstice?" I felt an arm over my shoulders. And I realized that it was Eclipse, so I didn't shove him off. "We don't have to be here Solstice. We can just go with my girlfriend tomorrow and get some clothes at a discount store."

I didn't want them wasting their money on me! I shook my head and hated how cowardly I was. I should just tell him no. I'm going to stay here, and not move.

With that 'stay here and not move' statement, my time in the other worlds came spinning back to me. Well…not ALL the worlds…just a specific world.

He heart started to hurt.

HE always told me that I shouldn't just laze around feeling bad for myself. HE always said that if I had something to say, I should say it. HE always said stuff that made me feel better, and HE never knew how nice he was. HE always acted like a hard-ass, but HE warmed up eventually.

I missed him…so much it hurt.

"Solstice…"

I looked up and saw Riku pulling back the blanket, and I just stared up at him, my eyes wide.

"You're crying."

I hid my face in my knees and shook my head, "no I'm not."

Riku sighed, and I could hear the pain in his voice. I sighed as well, but it wasn't like his life was any harder than mine was.

"What's the matter?" It was Sephiroth. I couldn't believe that I could still tell their voices apart. But Sephiroth is one of the reasons that HE hated me in the beginning. But he slowly became nice. …. Gah, I miss him!

"Nothing."

I don't care how sheepish or shy I may be; I'm NEVER going to tell them. They wouldn't believe me, they wouldn't trust me, and they wouldn't believe HE existed. But I knew…I knew he did.

* * *

TIME: 11:25

PLACE: Midgar

MY AGE: 18

I growled as I hit my head falling from my last world. That REALLY hurt. Why didn't Bob tell me that he was dropping me from a high place this time? He couldn't have at least warned me, the stupid old coot.

I sat up and rubbed the back of my head, looking around lazily, but wincing at the feeling of my fingers against my scalp. I opened my eyes fully and looked around. Where. In. The. Hell. Was. I?

"Whoa, I should have known that Bob would drop me in an abandoned wasteland eventually." I sighed, standing up and brushing off my butt. I looked around and spotted a small collection of buildings no more than a mile away. It looked like a populated area, or city, but why was it in such a wasteland? Didn't make sense.

I started to slowly walk toward the place. No need to rush. I ate before I left for this place (which Bob had called 'Midgar'.), and I'd had enough water to sustain the walk there. All I'd need was a drink when I got there. So, hell, no rush. Nothing would go wrong, and everything seemed to go wrong when I rushed.

This time it seemed to go in the exact opposite.

If I'd rushed to this 'Midgar', I probably wouldn't have been confronted by the blonde guy on the motor bike, seeing as I was a little over a yard from the place. But that was just long enough for the guy to point the extremely long and sharp-looking sword in my direction.

"Who in the hell are you!?" He yelled, swinging the sword in an over exaggerated swing, and he just glared daggers at me. Wow, he must be an expert glare…er? I don't know the word. I just hesitated and put my hands up in defense, nervously able to stutter out, "I-I'm sorry. I'm S-Solstice, if there's anything I'm doing wrong, I-I'll leave!"

The blonde just stared at me a moment, then let down his sword back on his back and sighed in relief, "your not him. And here I thought he'd come back."

I looked at the blonde, and saw him eyeing me suspiciously. I just kept the conversation going, just in case he wanted to kill me when I was silent, "W-who?"

He looked off into the sky and sighed, as if he were in a dramatic movie, "Sephiroth."

"Sephiroth!" I exclaimed, looking at him with an extremely confused look, "oh, please do not tell me that one of my brother's is in this world too!?"

As if it were a timed reaction, there was a sword pointed in his face yet again. He stared nervously up the metal weapon to look at it's owner, "W-What I mean…is…"

The man growled, "What DO you mean?"

"Don't worry, I hate all of my brothers." I sighed, looking off to the side. I heard his intake of surprise, and then I heard the clinking of the metal receding. I looked up.

"Come on. You'll need an escort to get through the crowd of people that may want to kill you."

---

**How do you like it? Eh? Okay!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm slightly disappointed with this chapter. And after it took so long, too! sigh**

* * *

They were all staring at me, and I couldn't hold back a shiver. I just wanted to leave now, and never come back to this decrepit town ever again! With the soda in my hands, my body backed into the furthest corner I could find in this bar, I tried to match everyone's glares. How many people were in here? Hmm, maybe I should count them and try and see how many glares I need to match.

There was a black haired woman glaring at me extra fiercely. She stood behind the bar, wiping out a shot glass. At least she was nice enough to grab me a soda (without spitting in it, I was surprised), before he resumed her glaring.

There was a big and burly black guy, wearing a white vest and glaring at me, too, of course. I was most scared of him because he looked as though he was the most qualified to kill me.

And there was a blue-haired younger girl, and she didn't have the deadliest glare, but it still hurt to see that someone that young hated me.

Then, of course, Cloud. I learned that is what his name was. Nice name though, and he's the one that escorted me to this bar. It turned out, also, that not so many people wanted to kill me. Only one or two, and Cloud calmly (albeit meanly, towards me), told them that I was not Sephiroth.

That didn't stop all the people from glaring maliciously at me.

"What did I do?"

They all glared extra hard at me, just for talking. I sighed, downed the rest of my soda, and slammed the glass on the table, "What in the hell did I do? Didn't I already explain to you people that I'm not Sephiroth!?"

"Yes, you say that you're not him, but he's your brother." The black haired lady said. I couldn't hold back a sigh, and I ran a hand through my hair,

"Dear lord, did I not tell you that I hate my brother?" I growled, then leaned over and hit my head on the table, "And I'm from a different world entirely. There's a entirely different Sephiroth where I come from. There's even a different Cloud."

"Different Cloud?" This came from the first Cloud, and I feared that I've already told them too much, "What do you mean different worlds?"

"I'm from a different world. In that world, there's a man named Cloud Strife."

Cloud gasped and glared at me harder, "I never told you my last name."

"Exactly. Cloud's brother is Sora. Sora's going out with my brother Riku. Yet, my brother Sephiroth is going out with Vincent. It's the works really." I went to keep talking but nearly everyone interrupted me.

"VINCENT!?" The big black man was the first one to actually give a reaction. He broke out laughing. Yuffie was the next and she laughed out loud too, if not louder than the man. The woman behind the back lifted her hand to place against her lips to stifle a giggle. Cloud was the only one that was glaring at me.

"How do you know about Vincent?" He growled, glaring at me. I just realized he was standing now, and taking a step toward me. I shivered and gulped, looking up at him.

I laughed nervously, "I just told you, he's going out with the brother I hate. I'm from a different world."

Cloud growled and sat back down, "I'll believe you for now."

He turned toward the girl, "Tifa, tell everyone in the city that this guy's okay."

I heaved a sigh of relief and placed my head down on the table.

"Yo, I'm Barret."

I looked up and smiled at the large burly man holding out his hand toward me. I took it and shook it happily, standing, "I'm Solstice. Good thing to see that you guys don't want to kill me anymore."

He laughed right out and sat at the table I was at, "Nah, we've just had too many rough encounters with that Sephiroth."

"I know how that feels." I sat back down, only to be met with another person sitting at my table. She stuck her hand right under my nose and I looked over at her, and her smile was contagious.

"I'm Yuffie! Nice to meet ya!"

I shook her hand and nodded, smiling.

It was when I was wondering who that 'Tifa' was when another glass of soda found it's way into my vision. I smiled and took it, "Thank you."

I couldn't keep my eyes away from Cloud though. He was the only one that kept hunched against the bar, taking a drink of water every once in a while. I just stared at him, until I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry about him." Tifa spoke in a fond voice, her voice still holding a bit of pain, "Sephiroth killed some good friends of his. He hates Sephiroth more than anyone you could ever imagine. Do you have anyone you hate that much?"

I shrugged, "I have five."

* * *

It didn't take long for Tifa to offer to let me have a room here in her little bar. She said that she was holding home for two orphans, but I was more than happy to take the room. I wouldn't help but smile as she showed it to me, but she said that she had to leave, so I took the chance to go back down with her and search the town. 

I stood in front of the bar doors and prepped myself, then put my hand on the doorknob.

"You want an escort?"

I looked over my shoulder and saw, yet again, Tifa. But it wasn't herself she was offering as an escort, it was Cloud. He was just standing there, in front of her, his body rigid and stiff. I laughed and nodded, opening the door and waiting for him to walk out, "thanks for offering."

"I didn't."

"And I was being sarcastic." I sighed and walked next to him, looking around at the sights of the spectacular city that I was not able to see before. I smiled and held my hands behind my back, looking around then looking back at him, "So where are we going first, Cloud?"

"I don't know." He just walked forward, not saying anything. He glanced over at me, and I just rolled my eyes, sighing and smiling at him.

"Well, if you don't know, then let's go that way!" I pointed in a random direction and he snorted at me, rolling his eyes much like I had.

Good to see that I had such an impression on him.

* * *

"Are you Sephiroth?" 

I looked down at the small kid in front of me. It was a girl, wearing a nice tan dress, looking up at me with wide eyes. I smirked and shook my head, "No, I'm not Sephiroth."

"Are you Kadaj?"

I shrugged, not knowing who this person was, but I then shook my head, "no, I'm not Kadaj."

She smiled, and then looked over her shoulders, up the stairs, "Denzel, he said he wasn't Sephiroth or Kadaj!"

There was stomping of feet down the stairs, "Then why does he look so much like them?"

A boy (is Denzel a boy?) jogged down the stairs, his baggy clothing bouncing on his body. He stopped on the hardwood of the floor at the base of the stairs and looked up at me with an expecting look on his face, "Why do you look so much like them?"

"I don't mean to look so much like them." I squatted down so that I was eye level with the girl, and I smiled, "I don't mean to."

"We can help you!" The girl exclaimed, clapping at looking at 'Denzel'. Denzel put his hands on his hips and nodded, looking at me:

"Yeah, if you don't want to look like them, then don't. We can cut your hair!" Denzel smiled, then turned around to run up the stairs, "And we can even dye it!"

I shook my head and stood up at my full height, "I can go without the dye, but we can cut it. Yeah!"

* * *

I caught his eyes on me. I know that many of the people in the bar were surprised (in a good way) about my haircut, and he was one of the people that warmed up to me about it. He'd say a casual 'hi' every morning when I came down here. Even if I've only been here for two weeks, Cloud is slowly becoming my favorite person here. I mean, all the other people here are great! Especially Denzel and Marlene, their slowly becoming my best friends! But…Cloud has this air of mystery about him, and I just love that. I mean growing up with five gay brothers, you'd obviously believe that I'd become gay as well. 

So, that's why I'm becoming strangely attracted to Cloud. I mean, who wouldn't be attracted to that guy, he's gorgeous. But from the talk of his past friend 'Aerith', I have a feeling he isn't the most curved guy. As in the strait-as-a-rainbow' type curved.

I wouldn't even ask him about that though, because him walking around with his buster sword and that weird motorcycle (I think he named it too!), I couldn't even gather up the courage to talk to him, none the less ask him if he bats for the other team.

I sighed and took a gulp of my hot chocolate, having waited for it to cool. It's strange, because I'm the only one here (spare Marlene and Denzel, of course) that doesn't drink something alcoholic. I don't even drink anything with caffeine in it, spare the occasional soda. See, I only have one or five sodas a day.

"Why do you hate you're brother?"

I looked up and caught the most beautiful eyes ever. Have you ever taken a sparing moment to look at Cloud's eyes? I mean, they're beautiful! I sighed and placed my mug down, running my hand through my now gravity defying hair. It was now short but spiking everywhere, somewhat like an anime. But I looked at him again, "Why do _you?_"

He laughed, AI would have thought that the groupies already told you that."

I laughed with him, then nodded, smiling, "Yes, they told me. But…is that whole Aerith thing true? I mean, you don't have to tell me."

"It's true." He sighed and looked away with an extremely sad look on his face, AI mean, she was one of my best friends. I loved her like a sister. But many people thought I loved her, loved her. But no, only as a sister."

I sighed and looked down at my hands, "When I was fourteen, my brothers…my parents had told them to watch over me."

Why was I telling him this!? I looked up at him nervously, and I saw that he really was interested, looking at me with an intimidating glance.

"So they did, but not very well. In-between boyfriends, they were the ideal brothers. We were fairly rich, so I got whatever I wanted from them. They were over protective, soft, kind, loving brothers when they didn't have boyfriends. At that time I thought they were bipolar…but I kept wishing that they didn't ever get boyfriends ever again. Is that selfish?"

It looked as though he wasn't expecting a question, but he barely shook his head, "that's not selfish at all. Not at all."

I snorted, "When they got boyfriends though…phew. Five brothers ditching me all at once. We'd often go to restaurants with their boyfriends, ten people, then me. Little old me. I'd have to carry up to three hundred extra dollars in my pockets for the bill of the restaurant and the cab fee. They'd literally just ditch me at the restaurant. I got mugged once too, had to walk twenty blocks home with a limp and a black eye.

But truth me told, I had a best friend in the world."

I laughed and he looked as though he was deeply sorry.

"He was the gate keeper, great old Frank Samuels. He'd always pick me up at the gate with his bright yellow golf cart and take me up to the door. I miss him. I can't help but wonder how he's going. But…"

I laughed, this time a bit more choking sound. I looked up at him and smiled a little, although sadly.

"That's the reason I hate my brothers and their boyfriends. It's their faults I got this scar." I gestured to my eye, and he looked at it as though he just barely registered it was there, "I got mugged, again, by one of Riku's old boyfriends. Riku is one of my brothers. But…Sephiroth actually had a nice boyfriend, Vincent, and Vincent looked out for me, he was actually the one that stopped them from getting the other eye."

I sighed, "But then…I let go of my emotions and started yelling how I hated them and how they were the worst people in the world. That's when Vincent punched me strait in the face. I lost nearly all my ability to trust after that."

He nodded. But then tilted his head and looked away.

"I hate Sephiroth most because…" I took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. I could only hold it for a moment, before turning away and keeping my lips in a thin white line, "because everyone always said that I'd grow up to be like him. Everyone always said I looked most like him, and I was destined to follow in his footsteps. I wanted to be my own person, but everyone went around saying that I would be another him. I hate him so much, because he just added onto that fact, making me grow my hair out, making me study the things he used to, did everything he did."

Cloud drained the rest of his drink and laughed, "It's a tie on who hates him more."

"Yup, sure is." I snorted and stood; tilting my head toward the door while looking at him, "wanna take a walk? You know, get some fresh air. Filter the bastard from our systems."

He laughed and nodded, "I think I underestimated you."

"Join the club." I opened the door for him. He walked out with a smile.

Cloud walked forward, leading me to the exit of the city so we could walk in the desert. Believe it or not, this was the coolest place to take a walk, except for the fact that you could get lost easier than shit.

"When are you leaving again?"

I was surprised by this question. I looked at him with raised eyebrows, and he shrugged.

"You said that you're from a different world. Knowing how you talk about it, you probably can't stay in one place for more than a while. When are you leaving?"

I sighed and stuffed my hands in my pockets, feeling a strange warm breeze fly past my shoulders, AI don't know. I know it's soon, though. But they sent me here for a reason, they always send me places for a reason."

"Have you found that reason?"

"Nope." I laughed out loud at his expression then waved my hand at him, "I'll find it eventually. I think I might be getting close."

* * *

"Toss it back! Toss it back!" 

I smiled and picked up the old and worn baseball, tossing it underhanded to Marlene. I was right when I said that these guys were my best friends. I mean, they knew the greatest games, and they even taught me how to play scrabble! These guys were the greatest, because they woke me up bright and shining in the morning, and they even let me try and help with their pranks. (Once they figured out I really sucked at pranks, they stopped letting me in on them.)

We were standing about half a mile away from the city in the cool afternoon air of the desert. It was much cooler than I would have thought it would be though. Even Tifa and Barret stood off to the side, ready to catch the baseball when it came their way. Cloud (of course) was just lazing around his motorbike, his arms crossed and his gaze just watching us with a fond smile on his face.

Denzel was calmly setting up a picnic that he'd insisted on bringing. And guess what? He brought scrabble! This fact made me smile as I reached my arm up and threw the small-multicolored ball back towards Marlene, being careful to toss it softly, so that it wouldn't be hard for her to catch it.

I smiled and leaned my weight on my right leg, reaching up to absently rub at my scar, feeling the tingling sensation whenever It would happen to start to ache. My short (almost past my ears, and almost spiking against it's will) hair was fluttering with the humid and warm air, along with my white oversized T-shirt, with baggy jeans that others had let me use. I smiled, placing my hand over my eye, closing it and adding slight pressure.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I looked over, thoroughly surprised to see Cloud standing there with the strangest look of concern I've ever seen. He spoke, "Are you okay? Is your scar hurting?"

I smiled nervously, nodding just a little, looking down again and rubbing the same spot, "It happens often, its only just a little tingle."

"Then come sit down, you can't play with only one eye." He smirked warmly, if that was even possible, and I followed after him obediently, tittering and still rubbing at my eye and closing the other one. Behind him I was just barely mumbling, AI was playing all this time with one eye. I can only see through one."

I sat down on the blanket, crossing my legs and rubbing at my eye again, "It always burns when I think about that day. Or them."

Cloud sat next to me and pulled my hands calmly away from my eyes, and he put his hand up to my injured eye, rubbing his thumb over the scar calmly, "Don't just sit there and rub at it, you need to be calm or it will hurt more."

I nodded and closed my eyes against his actions, feeling the pad of his thumb softly go over my eye and down the bridge of my cheek, and I could tell that he was rather close, "What did they say provoked them?"

"My brother Riku." I sighed, still closing my eyes yet tensing up considerably, "One of his boyfriends got dumped. They came after me saying that all Riku ever did was talk about me. He also said I was the best looking of the brothers, so that's why they came after me. They started with my eye, saying that they'd then go after my eyes, then my hair."

He gasped.

I shrugged and chuckled, "but yet again, I don't blame them, my hair is gorgeous."

Cloud chuckled too, and I opened my eyes to see him smiling, "Oh, my gosh, a smile."

"Hey," He smirked again, but that changed into a small smile, smaller than the other. I smiled again. He tilted his head, looking me in the eye, squinting.

"Can you not see out of that eye?"

I shook my head, "Nope, completely dead. Did you sense that I couldn't see out of it if there was a huge gash through it?"

And he actually blushed.

I laughed, closing my eyes and leaning back, never having laughed this hard, "Wow, I never thought I'd see the great Cloud Strife blush!"

He growled and looked away, and I couldn't help but lean forward and put a hand on his shoulder, "If it's any consolation, you look cute when you blush."

He growled again, and then looked at me again with downcast eyes and that blush still lacing his cheeks. I tilted my head to the side, looking down at him, a blush going across my own cheeks as I realized that he was actually staring at me.

Then he said something that was so uncharacteristic that if he had said this in a fan fiction (no, I'm not totally oblivious to those things. Yuffie happens to like them a lot, and she's a surprisingly talented writer), the author and/or authoress would have classified is as 'OOC', or so Yuffie told me.

He said: "You're cute whether or not you blush."

Then my blush was so full blown that a tomato would be writhing in jealousy. And my mind was thinking about everything. How good he looked, how beautiful his eyes were, how two of my friends in a different world would be squealing like fangirls if they saw this, how his body was slowly leaning forward…how I didn't stop him as he kissed me…

I put my hand on his shoulder because it was really the only thing I could think of doing, his soft (so surprisingly soft that he must've used some sort of lotion or something) hand on my neck, and it stayed there even as he pulled away from me. And I could still taste his lips on mine, and my eyes stayed closed, and I could hear him chuckle.

"You must be thinking: 'and here I thought he hated me'. No, I wouldn't kiss someone I hate." Cloud murmured, his thumb lightly going over my neck, and I couldn't hold back a smile as I opened my eyes.

I nearly tackled him as I went to kiss him again, my arms tight around his neck.

* * *

It was strange. Anyone would have thought that Cloud would be bottled up, like he used to be. Being cold and cute and brooding, just sitting there and not talking to anyone, thinking to himself about nothing in particular. Well…he was doing those things still, but he was doing them next to me, his hand glued to either my hand or my waist. He was a very possessive boyfriend (not that I didn't just love this cutie-pie!), and he walked with me a lot, but didn't stick to my side all the time. 

He did nearly go berserk and attack a guy when Yuffie was talking about a person hitting on me. I simply answered him "I can't blame him, I'm gorgeous!" Sarcasm is the best medicine. Cloud had smirked and snorted, shaking his head and taking my hand smoothly again.

But at the moment I couldn't keep my eyes open. My head was on the worn yet warm table, my arms folded under me and my head was facing to the side yet forward. I had to borrow one of Barret's shirts (he was the only one in the bar when I needed a shirt), and it went past my fingers and pooled against my lap, causing for good insulation. I hoped no one caught me snoring.

My lips were parted slightly as the breath seeped from them, my lungs getting ready to make my breathing even, ready for a full day of sleep. Everyone else had drunk coffee. I don't like coffee. But in reality, I'd stayed up all night playing 'hide-and-go-seek-in-the-dark' and some weird game that involved a deck of cards, but now I was ready to crash.

I licked my lips, closing my eyes a final time, then sighing contentedly, letting sleep completely take over me. The warmth forming around my torso from my overly large T-shirt, my arms pooled under my head, the all around warm atmosphere of the room, that was pooling around me and my body couldn't keep my awake.

**3****rd**** Person POV: **

As Barret walked into the bar, ready to yell and shout for a good new morning, his mouth was already open then he was silently tackled and a piece of tape was pushed over his mouth. He nearly punched the person in the face when he saw that it was Yuffie. He saw that everyone was up, but it was so silent in the bar that you could hear a pin drop.

They were all putting a finger to their lips, pointing with the other, and he looked over. He almost swooned, much like Yuffie and Tifa were doing, at the sight. It was Solstice, sleeping, and he almost looked like a puppy. Especially with Cloud laying his head near the others, patting the silver hair back.

Barret smiled, watching as Cloud just stared at the other.

Cloud, on the other hand, couldn't take his eyes of Solstice. This was the first time he'd ever seen the other one sleeping, and he was adorable. Not as adorable as some other people may have been sleeping, but Cloud…not trying to sound utterly sappy…wouldn't have liked to stare at anyone else.

Solstice's eyes fluttered and his lips pursed, making a small whimpering sound. His lips were creased in a frown, and his brows drew together.

Cloud's petting continued as he realized Solstice was having a nightmare.

"No…" The voice was very, very small, and Cloud was sure that he was the only on that had heard it. He placed his cheek down on the table, near Solstice, murmuring small words of comfort.

The whimpering continued and his lips parted a little, his hand clenching on the table. Cloud instantly put his free hand over that one, squeezing it as comfort and continuing to just murmur things and pat his hair.

Cloud knew a lot about nightmares, and he knew they were not fun. Cloud was partially sure that Solstice was either having a dream about the day he got that scar, or of his brothers. Solstice whimpered and said the same word, "No…"

Cloud held his hand tighter and murmured, "Shh…it's just a nightmare."

Cloud was shocked even more when he realized that Solstice had tears running down the bridge of his nose. Cloud hadn't seen it before because the tears didn't have a long way to travel before they were hidden from sight. Cloud gulped and moved in closer, his hand that was on Solstice's hand moved to around the boy's waist, rubbing calming circles on the man's waist, and his nose was nearly touching his boyfriends, and he whispered a little softer, "shh, it's alright, it's just a dream."

Solstice's eyes fluttered, and sooner than not, they were open a tiny bit, and squinting against the light, Solstice smiled.

**Solstice POV:**

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes, was a very nice sight. Right in front of my eyes were shining, deep blue, and beautiful ones. Connected to a face that was even more beautiful, and his lips were murmuring something, something that I had heard in my dreams. I smiled a little, tilting my head toward his patting hand, and when he saw me smile, he smiled too.

"Hey, I heard your voice." I whispered, thinking that it was the best since he was whispering as well, "thanks."

* * *

"Help! Help!" I heard this just as I was stepping onto the curb, Cloud glued to my side. We were taking a walk down to the supermarket, just to grab some supplies, but this wasn't what we expected to come back to.

He let go of me and ran towards the flames surrounding the bar. I couldn't comprehend what was going on for a moment, all I could see were the great flames licking at the sky from the bar. Just as soon, I ran as fast as him, watching as the flames grew higher and higher.

I skidded to a stop outside the bar, looking up at the groaning wood. I could have cried, but I looked over when I heard yelling and loud voices to the side. I saw Barret and Yuffie standing outside, trying to keep people away.

Tifa turned when she heard a commotion, and she saw us, thinking it over a moment, and then running to us, "Have you seen Denzel or Marlene?"

I gulped and racked my brain to try and think of where I thought they were. I remember when I was leaving with Cloud to the store, the two kids said that they were going to take a nap. The earlier day they had dragged me outside to fool around a little, do what little kids do, you know. They'd taken to draggi-

My eyes widened as realization hit me.

"They're inside!" I yelled, wrenching myself out of Cloud's grip, pushing past a few bystanders to sprint for the building. I heard Cloud nearly scream my name, but nothing would stop me now.

I heard Barret behind me, "Stop, Solstice!"

I didn't listen to him as I rammed my shoulder into the door, stumbling into the flames as I moved around to avoid them. I squinted, moving my arm up to cover my mouth, breathing as little as I could as I moved forward. I knew were the stairs were, and I knew that the kids room was at the top.

"Marlene! Denzel!" I yelled as I tested the stairs, dodging another set of flames, taking another chance as I ran up the stairs. I heard Cloud's voice behind me, but I knew he wasn't in the house. He was yelling for me to come back out and for Barret to let go of him. I was happy. He wouldn't get himself hurt…

I rammed into another door, thinking that I'd feel that in the morning. It didn't budge, and I slammed into it again, stumbling in the room, falling forward, splaying out. I grunted as my arm landed right in a burst of flames, and I pulled it back just as my shirt caught fire. I stumbled up again, holding my singed arm to myself. I looked around the children's room, squinting as I tried to find the children that lived there.

Hearing someone yell my name, I looked over and saw them hiding behind one of the beds. I ran to them and knelt down, holding out my arms, "Come here, hurry!"

They nearly threw me over as they stampeded into my arms. I held them to me, even as I looked back to the door and saw it covered in flames. There was no other way to get out…except for…I looked toward the window, then toward the children in my arms. I gulped and held them tighter.

I was about to tell them my idea, but a large sound behind me made me think on my feet. I ran towards the window, stepping up on the ledge and using more my back and shoulder to crash through the window, feeling the flames of the explosion licking at my feet. I winced and I felt the air sifting over my body as I fell to the ground. I made sure to keep the children above me-

My back exploded with pain, my eyes spotted with white, and my body wouldn't move no matter how hard I tried. I felt the children get off me, immediately kneeling next to me. I gasped, opening my eyes in a desperate attempt to catch a glimpse of the one person that I wanted to see at this moment.

"Solstice!"

I looked over, closing my eyes before I could see him, gasping as a shoot of pain went up my back. I knew it was broken, or something was broken, but I couldn't really think about things like that right now. I opened my eyes again, more like wrenched them open.

"Solstice!" I heard a crunching sound and I saw spikes of yellow hair enter into my vision. I smiled, because I couldn't do anything other than that whenever I saw Cloud. His hands were immediately on my cheeks, his thumbs rubbing on my cheeks.

He was gasping almost as much as I was, "Solstice. Why did you do that? Please, Solstice."

I gasped as I felt a metallic tinge rest on my tongue, and I opened my mouth, only to feel something warm slither down my chin. Cloud just stared at me with wide eyes.

"He must've broken something that punctured a lung." Barret skidded to a stop next to me as well, looking down at me with soft eyes, "Thank you…"

I gasped again, my breathing becoming harder and harder. I opened my mouth in a silent scream and my hand was clutching at nothing. I looked up at Cloud, trying to move my blood-stained lips to talk to him. He shook his head, his lips quivering, his eyes glistening with something that I couldn't believe he was doing. Was he crying? Cloud didn't cry…Cloud couldn't cry…I mean, if Cloud started crying, then I'd start crying, and then everyone else would start crying, and we wouldn't solve anything then.

"Cloud…" I murmured, smiling a little as my body started to go numb. I looked him in the eyes, "As…."

"Don't try and talk." Cloud leaned down further, doing nearly a yoga move with the way he was sitting, and kissed me softly on the lips, trying to calm himself down as much as he was me, his voice quivering, "I can't loose you too. Please, I can't loose you too…"

"As corny as…." I gasped, "As…this may…sound. I…I love you…Cloud."

Cloud choked on something, "Please don't say that."

"Yeah…they always say that…. when their about to…. die…in the…movies…" I smiled as much as I could. He looked at me, his brows drawing together as he moved his cheek next to mine:

"Please don't leave me, Solstice."

I just frowned finally, closing my eyes, "I'm…sorry…"

"I can help."

Cloud's head shot up as he looked at the owner of the unfamiliar voice. He glared, moving closer to me, so that he was basically blocking my whole upper body, with the way he was hunched over me. He yelled, "Who are you!?"

The man smirked, "Solstice has grown to calling me Bob."

Cloud just glared.

The man just raised a hand, and as soon as he did, there was a glowing circle next to him, much like the one I'd seen when I first met Bob.

"I can send him to another world, and that will save his life." The man smirked, almost as if he were enjoying Cloud's pain. He was most likely enjoying mine too, but he didn't show it, because he was looking right at Cloud, "I will also grant you the power to travel worlds, if you wish. You are in love with Solstice, I see that as a fair reason for you to be able to see him."

"When?" Cloud asked, his eyes having widened from the unexpected news.

Bob smirked, "You will have to wait seven years to be able to see Solstice again. My plan will almost be complete."

Cloud just stared at him skeptically, and then nodded, "If it will save him."

* * *

**welp, that sucked. I might write another chapter. **


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